Worst princess
by SilverSnowflake9798
Summary: "Why is it that just because I am a princess I am automatically unable to get a proper education, to fight, to protect the people I love?" "Because that's not what princesses are supposed to do."


13 years ago

"And where do you think you are going Miss Hakuei?"

A silent groan escaped her lips. Looking back she her teacher, miss teach. She had a name but Hakuei didn't know it. The lady was pretty, but the nasty look on her face hid it. "All the girls are all waiting in for you. Don't you find it rude to make them wait?" _They don't have to wait,_ Hakuei wanted to say, but knew she shouldn't. Instead she allowed herself to be led by the elder lady, looking longingly at the open field calling to her.

Ignoring the princess's attitude she brought her into the 'classroom.' It didn't look like classroom. This room had cushions for chairs and there was one table that they all surrounded, which was filled with makeup and the odd reading book. Eight of her cousin's all looked up at the opened door. When they saw it was Hakuei most of them ignored her.

Miss teach went to the empty side of the table and clapped loudly. "Alright everyone, take your seats. Class is in session." Hakuei ran over to find a spare cushion. They all looked to their leader. Once she had their attention she began.

"Alright, now that we have everyone," she glared at Hakuei, "Let's begin. Since we just finished how a princess is supposed to behave in a ball," she paused for a moment. "Actually, who would like to remind us of the proper behaviour of a princess at a dance? Yes, Kourin." The young girl stood up and spoke proudly.

"Princesses are supposed to dance with anyone who asks, not say a word, don't wander off with strangers and be respectful." The girls face became strained as she tried to remember. "And…and always look your best." Miss teach nodded to her disciple.

"Very good Kourin." The girl blushed as she sat down with her sister's. "That is correct. Well today we are learning how we should behave when visiting another country. Who can guess how you are supposed to behave?" All of the girls were too nervous to raise their hands. All except Hakuei. "Princess Hakuei?"

The girl smiled happily, overjoyed at the chance to prove herself. "You need to be polite, but be careful. Some of the other nations will try and trick you. When the negotiations come along make sure they are fair for everyone, because if they aren't-"

"No Princess Hakuei! All of that was wrong, where did you learn such nonsense?" Hakuei was taken aback but continued.

"I overheard my big brother's lesson. That's what his teacher," she trailed off as the glare of her teacher intensified.

"That is for the princes to learn, NOT the princesses. Now the proper way a princess is supposed," Hakuei raised her hand. "YES princess Hakuei."

"Why do we need to act differently?" Miss teach groaned. She couldn't understand even that? The shame she would be when she got older.

"Because they are princes and you are a princess." Hakuei's blank face said she didn't understand but Miss teach decided to brush the conversation away. "The correct way a princess is supposed to act is this: she must be silent. Allow the men to speak, only speaking when spoken to. If the people are slaves ignore them. If they are royalty make sure to be extra polite-"

"You're wrong." Hakuei stated. "Hakuyuu says that slaves do deserve respect. He says that they are people to and,"

"Princess Hakuei you know better to interrupt! Save your questions' for the end, PLEASE!" This wasn't good. This was the first princess, the most important princess of them all. And yet she couldn't understand the proper etiquette! Sighing, Miss teach told them, "May you lovely princesses leave? I need to have a talk with Princess Hakuei." The other princesses were thrilled that classes were ending early. They all rushed out leaving Hakuei alone.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, miss teach turned back to Hakuei who sat there in confusion. She didn't understand what she had done wrong. Every class she seemed to somehow anger her teacher. It wasn't like she meant to get everything wrong. She just didn't understand what she was saying. It didn't make sense to her.

Miss teach seemed to think Hakuei was put on this earth just to make her existence hard. "Princess Hakuei, you cannot expect to be a proper princess if you continue to pursue these ridiculous ideas. Listening to the prince's classes, speaking to slaves, telling others to be cautious, bah! Do you not understand why you are different?" Her nose scrunched up as she tried figure it out. She tried really, really hard for her teacher's sake, but she didn't get it.

"You're a princess Hakuei! Your role is very important to the nation!"

"May I ask what is my role?" Miss teach seemed happy with that question. Miss teach thought that maybe if she explained her role than she would finally get through to her.

"Certainly. Princesses main role is to marry to create an alliance." She expected the girl to be happy, like her cousin's had. Some had started blushing at the idea of getting married. Some had daydreamed what their husbands would be like.

"What?"

"Yes. And once the princess is married, they will be brought to their husband's kingdom. Your husband of course will be very wary of you, so we teach you to-"

"Don't I meet him before the marriage?" Miss Teach shook her head "But what if he doesn't like me? Or I don't like him?" her teacher almost laughed.

"Well it doesn't matter what you think of him. If he doesn't like you he can take a mistress.

That is the main role of a princess. To marry a king and seal an alliance." She waited for Hakuei to say something to show she understood.

"…and?" Miss teach opened her eyes.

"And? What do you mean?" Hakuei was more confused than ever.

"And what else to princesses do? That sounds like a bad part of being a princess, I'm going to skip that part." Her jaw dropped open as she stared down at the smiling girl.

"Wha-no you cannot skip that part! That is your only role!" at her words Hakuei seemed to go into shock.

"…that's it?"

"Of course! Make an alliance and marry a king! That is the role of a princess!" Many questions seemed to run through the girl's head and she scrambled to say them all.

"But-but what about the rest of my life? Can't I do anything else? When do I get to help people, and see other nations and battle the enemies? That's only one thing miss teach, there must be more! When do I get to learn what else we do?" exasperated Miss teach struggled to not roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Those aren't you're roles! Leave that to your brothers and others with that power. Can't you see princess? You have it easy, you can do whatever you wish. All you have to do is marry one man, and nothing else. He will do all the work, you do what he says."

"But what if I don't want to do what he says?" Whined Hakuei. Miss teach shot up scaring Hakuei out of her skin.

"Hakuei, one of the most important rules for a princess is to never doubt her husband! They are masters to their wives." Hakuei shook her head, refusing to believe this was it.

"Why? I don't-" fed up with her questions, miss teach spoke in a firm voice.

"Princess Hakuei, listen to me. Princesses are to marry a king and listen to what he tells her. She does not learn about other nations. She does not fight any battles. She does not learn any politics or mathematics. Why don't you learn these things? Because you don't need to. Do you understand me princess?"

Her mouth had dropped open and she stared at her teacher in shock. The girl could barely move as she tried to close her mouth and process the information. She could see her head spinning. But she processed it for too long. Why did she not understand it? It was an easy role. Finally, Hakuei lifted her head.

"Yes Miss teach. I…I think I understand."

Hakuyuu rolled his eyes as another general gave another report on what was, in his opinion, the most unimportant matter in his entire life. Something about too many squirrels in the north and how it meant somebody was going to attack. Squirrels! Hakuyuu wondered how old someone had to be before they could retire. It looked like this general had seen to many battles and lost a few brain cells along the way.

As he began to nod off Hakuren elbowed his stomach. "Brother, you need to listen," he whispered. "You can't just doze off in the middle of a meeting." Hakuyuu shook his head in an attempt to stay awake. It did not help.

After far too long there was a small, soft knock on the door. The ten generals and 2 princess all turned to the door, than eleven faces turned back to the eldest prince, waiting for his order. No one was allowed to decide whether the door could be opened for newcomers except for the one in charge. Hakuyuu hadn't been aware that anyone else was coming. But he was grateful for the distraction. "Come in."

The door opened slightly, just a little bit. Too small for anyone to fit through, or so he thought. Instead of a servant or another general, his younger sister's little head peeked into the room. Her big blue eyes dashed nervously around the room, trying to pinpoint a familiar face. Eventually her eyes stopped on her brothers and she was able to speak, but nervously due to all the strangers around.

"Hakuyuu? I wanted to ask you a question, if that's okay. I won't take up to much time, I promise." Some of the older generals snorted, mumbling something about a princess not being able to understand the importance of a meeting. Hakuren tightened his hands into fists at his side but said nothing. It wasn't that she was a princess, it was that she was too YOUNG to understand she shouldn't interrupt. The way that the men treated his sister and princesses from other nations embarrassed him and his brother to no end. Why couldn't they treat them like other women? Men from other nations treated their women much better, but no, his people had to treat girls like his little sister as if they were just brats. It infuriated him to no end, when his little sister had the biggest heart he had ever seen. Hakuyuu hid his anger much better as he nodded to his sister.

"That's fine. Come in Hakuei." Tentatively she slipped through the door allowing it to close behind her. All eyes were on her and she shivered under the attention. Rushing to be out of the centre she hurried to stand in front of her brothers. Hakuren smiled and waved at her encouragingly, but she didn't wave back. She didn't even smile, which scared Hakuren. She was normally so happy to see him, since he was often away on business. But the look in her eyes wasn't happy. It didn't have the regular light it normally held. Something else was there. Something he hadn't seen in his sister before. And he didn't like it.

"Go ahead," Hakuyuu urged her. Hakuei looked up so she could meet her brothers' eyes. Unlike Hakuren, he was able to recognize the new look in her eyes. They looked dead.

"Is my life meaningless brother?"

Both of them froze. They stared at their little sister in shock, waiting for her to say it was just a joke. But she didn't. She was deadly serious, waiting for her answer. Hakuyuu didn't say a word as he tried to decide what the best thing to say was. Hakuren on the other hand wasn't as careful as him.

"WH-WHAT? Why on earth would you-why would you even say that Hakuei?" there was no regret as she turned to look to her brother. She spoke in a calm tone, explaining to him what her teacher had told her.

"Miss teach told me what a princess's role is today," she began silently. "She said that a princess's role is to marry and secure a treaty." He waited for her to continue, but she didn't.

"So? What's wrong with that?" this time a light started to appear in her eyes again. But it wasn't a good light. It was sadness.

"Is that it? Is that all I get to do?" Hakuren was slightly taken aback. He had never thought about that before. No one had ever really told him much about the roles of princesses. He had guessed it was because it was not what he had to learn, but he never thought it was because they had so little to do. Hakuyuu sat in silence, examining each of her words thoughtfully.

"A treaty," she continued, looking down at her hands. "Treaties are made by two countries. They sign a piece of paper to keep the peace. So…so does that…" her eyes started to water a bit and she tugged at her dress. All of Hakuren's being told him to go and comfort his sister, but he stayed there so she could continue.

"So does that mean my life is equal to a piece of paper?"

No one spoke. None of them dared to give her the answer that she was dreading. She waited for it. Waited for someone to tell her she was wrong or right, some kind of answer. After too long she looked up at all of their faces, wanting someone to tell her something. They all just gave her blank stares. "Is it true?" she asked them all, as if accusing them for an awful crime. "Is that all my life if worth? Some paper?"

"N-No!" Hakuren hurried to say. "Of course not! Hakuei, don't ever think-"

"Then why," she turned to her brother once again. "Why is that all I get to do? I don't learn the same things as my brothers do! I can't fight, I can't learn, I can't help anyone! Why is it that just because I am a princess I am automatically unable to get a proper education, to fight, to protect the people I love?"

"Because that's not what princesses are supposed to do," Hakuyuu finally spoke up, and all eyes turned to him. When he spoke he spoke in an almost mesmerizing tone that made you feel inclined to listen. "Like you said, they are supposed to keep a treaty between two nations." Hakuei sucked in her breath quickly. The thing she loved the most about her eldest brother: he never hid the truth. Even when others said she was too young, or that she shouldn't ask questions, he would always tell her the truth. No matter what. Even if it hurt.

"But why does that have to be all?" Hakuei sounded on the verge of tears, her voice just barely above a whisper. "My…my life is so meaningless than. Why don't I get to…it's not…" she turned her face to the ground again, wiping her eyes to get rid of the water.

"Hakuei…" Hakuren wanted to go and hold his sister. Tell her it was okay and that she didn't need to cry. But that would be a lie. The truth was that, in a way, her life was going to be meaningless. He couldn't do anything about it. She was going to secure a treaty, as if she had the same value as a signed piece of paper. How do you tell that to your only sister?

"I don't like it." Hakuren blinked in confusion.

"What?" Hakuei looked up again, but differently this time. The sadness was still there, but much smaller. Most of it had been replaced with another kind: determination and defiance.

"I don't like it," she spoke in a firm voice. As she continued to speak her voice would get louder and louder with every word. "And I won't go along with it. I will get strong, and learn lots of new things and be able to keep the ones I love safe. My life is not meaningless, just because I am born a princess. I am a person to! I have a mind, I have thoughts, and I have a life of my own! And I'm not going to waste it! I refuse to be useless, and I won't. I can get strong if I'm given the chance. I won't be tossed aside because I matter. This is my life and I'm going to use it to do great things! I want to see the world, I want to see other nations, I want to help people who are in pain, and I want to help everyone! Just because of where I am born, or when I was born does not make me any less of a person than someone else. I can do it, and I will! I'm going to change what a princess's role is! And if I can't…if I can't…" she struggled with her words, trying to finish off with something daring. Something that made sense, and put her point across.

"Than… I'll just be the worst princess that ever lived." All of them stared at the young girl who stood in the middle of the room. She didn't flinch, just stared at her older brother waiting for his response. Hakuren was stunned. At such a young age his sister had such ambitions? Part of him couldn't help but feel proud of her.

But before he could express this, all of the generals started laughing.

"A princess, fighting in a war? Keeping the peace?" "Like she could be smart enough to even comprehend how many other cultures there are, much less speak to them." "What a joke, she could never do that!" Hakuei looked like her heart had broken. Her face fell and she stared at the laughing faces around her. All of the men laughing at her dreams, her goals, all that she thought were good things! Once she had gotten over the shock the anger began to bubble from within her.

"That's not true! I can do all that stuff, I can!" This just made them laugh even harder.

"Very amusing princess. Never, in all of Kou Empire's history, has a princess been able to even understand what economics are! Do you know what they are?" When she came up with no answer they laughed.

"B-but that's not fair! I wasn't taught that! You can't expect me to know what that is without ever being told!" None of them seemed to think her logic was valid as they continued to mock her.

"Goodness don't you have childish goals," another one of them said. "And how do you plan on achieving this?" She didn't know. She hadn't thought that far through. Instead she looked around at these people for help. None of them gave her help…but they did give her an answer.

Taking a deep breath, she said something that might have been too daring. "I'll become a general." They stopped. Hakuei didn't take long enough to examine the silence and continued. "That way I can fight for the people I care about, see a lot of places and even stop fights. I'll help find allies for the kou empire and," but she didn't even get to finish her sentence when they started laughing again.

"Keep the peace? Don't you know what we are a war country? We don't want to keep the peace, we want to end it."

"And how do you plan on becoming a general? If you don't know something as simple as that?" Opening and closing her mouth she tried to scramble for an answer, anything that would help her case.

"I-I can learn! I'll learn how to do all those things!" Those who were growing tired of her naivety rolled their eyes and became more serious.

"And who will teach you girl? Anyone with brains knows that a princess cannot fathom such important matters. Who would waste such time on a hopeless effort?" This time when she opened her mouth she didn't give an answer. It was a challenging question, one that she didn't have an answer for. Desperately her eyes darted around the room looking for some kind of help, or escape even. Than her eyes landed on the one person most people would not even dare to. She reacted so quickly she didn't even realize what she had said until she had said it. And it surprised everyone.

"Hakuyuu!" her elder brother, who had been silent during this whole engagement raised his eyebrows. Unlike everyone else whose eyes looked like they were all about to fall out of their head.

"Brother?" Hakuren gaped at his little sister, who was taking a moment to examine what she had said. To his horror she beamed happily at the suggestion.

"Yeah! Brother can teach me! He knows all about that stuff right? He's really smart!" She blinked for a moment, then felt guilty. "N-Not that Hakuren isn't smart either, but he is always looking after Hakuryuu, so he's too busy to look after me." Hakuren shook his head and tried to motion to his sister to stop but she was on a roll. Turning back to her eldest brother she spoke to him directly.

"Hakuyuu, can you teach me please? I promise I'll be a fast learner! I'll work really hard, and I won't be annoying I promise! Just ask miss teach, she will vouch for me!" Miss teach had a different opinion on that. One of the generals in anger shot up from his chair.

"You arrogant child! Don't you see prince Hakuyuu is next in line to become the king? He doesn't have time to take on such a hopeless case! You're not even high enough to be speaking to him! Pay your respects little girl," he practically spat his last words, and Hakuei flinched back in fear. The rest of the generals hurried to agree with their friend, shouting arguments against the princess's rudeness. Hakuren tried to shout above them to make them stop scaring his sister. Hakuei just sat there in confusion and sadness. What had she done wrong? All she had done was ask. It wasn't like he had to say yes. Why was asking a question so wrong? Why was wanting more from her life so wrong? Why was her wanting her own freedom wrong?

Thump

Everyone went silent and turned back to prince Hakuyuu. He had only needed to bang his hands on the desk for all eyes in the room to turn back to him. There was a new look in his eyes. He had seen enough. And he knew what he was going to do.

The 1st imperial prince stood up from his desk, no one else daring to move. Stepping away from his desk his footsteps echoed as he walked in a circle around his desk to his sister. In fear the other generals backed away, but not Hakuei. Standing in place she hung her head in an attempt to apologize for whatever mistake she had made. He walked over to her so that he was standing directly in front of her. He didn't say a word. The time seemed to stretch by as she looked to the ground, he looked at her and everyone looked to him. They all waited for him to give her a lecture, to tell her how silly she was being. Hakuren was silently begging that his brother would go easy on her.

"If I'm going to teach you we start tomorrow."

"….."

"….."

"…..what?" Hakuei stared up at her brother.

"Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you haven't done this before. You haven't learned the basics that even Hakuryuu has learned, so you're going to have to learn quicker and work harder. You'll learn a little bit at a time, but I'll teach you languages first. Battle training will come last since strength isn't-"

"Prince?" One general was brave enough to interrupt. "What are you doing?" Hakuyuu turned to him quickly.

"Explaining how I am going to train my sister." All mouths dropped open. Hakuei's became a giant smile.

"Really? Oh thank you so much! I will, I promise I will work hard and I'll be obedient and listen to what you tell me I promise." Hakuei was so happy she was almost jumping. She was the only one. Even Hakuren was staring at the scene in shock. It wasn't like he wasn't happy, but he had no clue what to say.

The others seemed to. "What do you mean you're going to train her? Prince, I must strongly advise against this!"

"This is a pointless waste of time for a prince! What use could it be to train this little girl?" Hakuyuu turned his attention back to his generals.

"This 'little girl' is my sister. And I would appreciate it if you spoke to her with more respect," his commanding tone telling them that this was not optional. Most of them fell back in fear of angering the first prince. Only one of them was brave enough to continue.

"B-but sir, it's better not to let this gi- the princess to keep believing in this absurd dream. She is a princess and that is not in her role." Hakuei turned to glare at him, but it was not necessary.

"Her being a princess doesn't mean she can't accomplish the same things that others can. Princesses from many other nations are famous for their war efforts and knowledge. Princess Diane of the southern lands was known for keeping the peace during a rebellion. Princess Angelina was the one who was able to devise a plan that helped her country succeed in defeating an army with only a handful of soldiers. Hakuei is right: the only reason that princesses here have not been able to do the same is because they are not taught.

It's completely unreasonable to believe that someone could without being taught. No one in this room could have been able to do all that they have without someone teaching them first. We all were taught to use a sword. We all were taught to talk, to walk. Why is teaching her unreasonable, but teaching you completely normal?

This is not a useless case. She can do this, she can become a general, or whatever she wants to be. At so young she is already fighting for it, already working to get to her goals. How many of you would have gone against what everyone told them to get to what they wanted?" No one spoke up. It was almost impossible to argue with his facts. They all admired him because of his flawless logic and ideas. The only problem was if he wasn't on your side: you were doomed.

Turning back to his little sister he didn't smile. But there was a warmth in his eyes that he reserved only for his family. "Hakuei, come on. Let's go outside and talk about this." Happily she quickly ran over to grab her brother's hand. Impatiently she began to pull him away from the meeting, ignoring all of the gaping generals around them. Before they left Hakuyuu turned back to the elders.

"Oh, and the meeting is over. I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about the squirrel apocalypse general. Please stop by at the medics after you leave." And with that they were gone, leaving poor Hakuren to deal with 10 shocked, and slightly insulted, generals.

"So…" he began. "About those squirrels…"

"Big brother, were you telling the truth?" Hakuyuu blinked down at his little sister.

"Why wouldn't I be? I've always told you the truth."

"I-I know but… all of them were saying I was being silly and stupid. Were you just saying that because you didn't like them?" Hakuyuu, like he had before, took some time before answering. Hakuyuu was a very smart man, and he always spoke every word with care. Sometimes, in Hakuei's opinion, he just took too long. Impatiently she tugged on his sleeve. "Well? Is it true or not?"

"I was telling the truth." Bending down he went on one knee so that he could look his sister in the eyes. "Hakuei, you have a very strong will. You're stubborn, and you don't like being told what to do." she pouted in embarrassment. "But a strong will isn't bad. You're determined, and you will fight for what you believe in. That is not weakness, that is strength. If you learn what to do, I have no doubt that you will become wiser and stronger than all of those generals. You will become a general that no one here has ever seen before. You can change things, and you will." This time she blushed happily and hugged her big brother.

"Don't think that this will be easy. You have a lot of training to do if you want to accomplish your goals. The one you have made isn't easy." Pulling away she nodded very serious this time.

"I know! I'll work very hard." Her brother just nodded softly as he stood up again. "But brother?"

"Yes?"

"You were happy that you got out of that meeting weren't you?" Hakuyuu just laughed.

10 years later

"Wow princess Hakuei!"

"I can't believe you actually did it!"

"Yup. The first princess ever to not only become a general but to even have her own djinn!"

**Hey everyone. I own nothing and hope you liked this story…Um…if anyone has questions feel free to ask. **


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